Aloha Colson

Aloha Lewis Colson, born September 19, 1921, to Ed and Florence Lewis, died peacefully on June 28, 2017, after a long and vibrant life. A proud graduate of Byrd High School, she took her first job in the school\'s office, developing secretarial and bookkeeping skills that prepared her for a long and empowering career in the world of business. Strongly independent, she worked for a number of employers in the United States and abroad, including local firms Jones O\'Brien, Halliburton, and the Electric Contracting Company-sometimes balancing her responsibilities at work with being a single mother. She relished the years she lived abroad, using her time in Evreux, France, to study French, and her time in Maracaibo, Venezuela, to study Spanish. She loved reading, gardening, dancing, and vacationing near water, especially enjoying the years that she spent on Lake Hamilton with her late husband of 26 years, Charlie Colson. An advocate for education, she was a longtime member of PEO; she belonged to First United Methodist Church for virtually her whole life. She was devoted to her son Darrel, daughter-in-law Christy, grandchildren Rachel and Jacob (Amber), great-grandson Reid; her late sister Kathleen Perez, nieces and nephews Aloha Linda Moreno (Tico), Kenny Perez (Vicki), Ricky Perez, and Beverly Barton (Gene), and grand-nephew Daniel Barton; and her stepson Charlie Colson, step-grandson Charles Colson (Jamie), and step-great-granddaughter Laura Mae Colson. Her family thanks the wonderful people who cared for her in the final years of life, including the staff of the Glen\'s Stiles Apartments, the dear angels in the Glen\'s Woolf Cottage, the Glen\'s Paws With A Purpose pet therapy program and its many volunteers, the nurses of Golden Gate Nursing, the nurses of Lifepath Hospice, and Dr. Robert Hernandez with his team of able professionals. Her family will lay her body to rest in a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to The Glen Retirement System (Shreveport), First United Methodist Church (Shreveport), Wartburg College (Waverly, IA), or a charity of the giver\'s choice.